Sir Samuel Hughes

Hughes, Sir Samuel
Sir Samuel Hughes, teacher, journalist, soldier, politician (b at Darlington, Canada W 8 Jan 1853; d at Lindsay, Ont 24 Aug 1921). A Conservative and an enthusiastic supporter of Sir John A. Macdonald's NATIONAL POLICY, Sam Hughes was elected to Parliament for Victoria North in 1892. Vain, colourful, charming and splenetic, Hughes made a 30-year public career of politics and militia service. A longtime proponent of the volunteer militia and the imperial connection, he helped force Prime Minister LAURIER to send Canadian troops to the SOUTH AFRICAN WAR in 1899. Hughes was dismissed from that war for military indiscipline and public exposure of incompetent British generalship. These experiences produced a Canadian nationalist slant to Hughes's imperialist leanings. By 1911, with years of solid caucus and parliamentary service - including 10 years as Opposition militia critic - and personal loyalty to R.L. BORDEN behind him, Hughes won the militia portfolio in Borden's new government. Hughes promoted citizen-soldiers over professionals (to the latter's detriment), and preached the social value of military training and national preparedness.

Early in WWI, Hughes was hailed as the genius of the war effort. Unfortunately, favouritism, confused civil-military functions, disrespect of Cabinet, administrative incompetence and scandals such as the ROSS RIFLE fiasco (see ARMAMENTS) forced Borden to fire Hughes in November 1916. He died in 1921, a reluctant and sometimes bitter Conservative-Unionist MP for Victoria-Haliburton. Although Hughes was a sincere Canadian and a successful constituency politician, his erratic talents never matched the demands of high office during total war.

Author RONALD G. HAYCOCK

Suggested Reading
R.G. Haycock, Sam Hughes: The Public Career of a Controversial Canadian 1885-1916 (1987).

Links to Other Sites
Sir Samuel Hughes
A biography of Sir Samuel Hughes, teacher, militia officer, newspaper proprietor, and politician. Offers interesting details about government policies concerning Canada's involvement in the First World War. From the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.

Sir Samuel Hughes
View a brief video newsreel film clip of Sir Samuel Hughes. From the website for British Pathe.

Sir Sam Hughes
This site features a portrait and background information about the controversial Canadian military and political figure Sir Sam Hughes. From the Canadian War Museum.

SIR SAM HUGHES and FAMILY collection
A guide to the archives of Sir Sam Hughes and his family. Includes biographies of members of the family.

We Were There: Sir Sam Hughes
This site features online archival documents that relate to Sir Sam Hughes career in the Canadian military and federal politics. From Library and Archives Canada.

Colonel Sam Hughes Reviews the Troops
Watch a vintage 1915 film clip of "Colonel Sam Hughes" and other military offericers reviewing Canadian troops as they march through Toronto. From the website for the National Film Board of Canada.